“Leave it, please,” Paula said. “We’ll manage till the morning.”

The water was moving more freely now. “I might have cleared it enough for the toilet to operate until Bert gets here.”

“He can do a proper job of fixing it this time.”

“That’s a huge job.” Dan knew the pipes needed replacing but he was reluctant to commit to too much being done. “I’ll get Bert to replace this section. Hopefully that’ll do the trick for now.”

“As long as it works while Mum and Dad are here. We’ll decide what we’re going to do about it after that.”

“I should have had it fixed properly. I thought Bert was overplaying the problem last time he was here.”

“Dan!” Paula put a hand on his shoulder. “Please stop. We can manage for one night.”

He stood up and arched his back. The air was still warm although the north wind had stopped. Today had been a tough one with Ted. The reality of his decision to sell was finally hitting home. Together they had done an inventory of all their stock, sorting and shifting as much as they could. Ted had taken a call from the agent. He had a keen buyer lined up. The offer wasn’t as high as Ted had hoped but in the current climate he had to consider it. If the deal went through there’d be a clearing sale. That would be a hard time for them all. Ted hadn’t been in the best mood after the call and everything that could go wrong, did. The sheep had been particularly difficult to work with. Ted’s ute had a flat tyre and a bearing had gone in the trailer wheel halfway home. Dan was despairingly tired and now he was covered in filth from the drain.

“Come on.” Paula stepped back as he climbed out. “I’ll get you a bucket of hot water so you can have a wash. Then you can eat.”

Dan followed the light from the torch, she held, back to the house yard.

“Have the dogs been fed? I may as well do that before I wash up.” He bent to turn off the hose.

“Spud is in purgatory. I’ve shut him in his outside pen.”

Dan peered into the darkness of the yard beyond the house. Surely Spud hadn’t bothered the sheep. “What’s he been up to?”

“Come and wash up,” she said. “Spud and I have had a very interesting day. I’ll tell you all about it over dinner.”

Dan followed her into the back verandah. He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of the way she said ‘interesting’.

* * *